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We all know that some breeds are more vocal than others (Siamese, anyone?), and some cats just enjoy hearing the sound of their own voices. But if your cat meows a lot, a vet check might be in order. So, why do cats meow? Here are some reasons for that constant cat meowing:

1. Your cat is meowing because she’s in heat.

Your cat might be meowing if she’s in heat. Photography by annadarzy/Thinkstock.

Of course, this is only true if your cat is not spayed. But if your five- or six-month-old unspayed cat suddenly starts meowing and carrying on, she may be seeking a mate. Cries of a cat in heat are eerily loud and almost sound as if the cat is in pain, and they’re usually accompanied by super-affectionate behavior and an odd, sway-backed position when you pet near the rump.

2. Excessive cat meowing could signal hyperthyroidism.

Typically found in older cats, hyperthyroidism displays a number of symptoms, including weight loss despite ravenous hunger, excessive activity and excessive vocalization. If your cat is showing these symptoms, take her to the vet right away for a checkup and blood test.

3. Your cat might be meowing due to loss of vision and/or hearing.

If your older cat cries like a lost child once you’ve turned off the lights and gone to bed, she may really feel lost. A cat who’s partially blind or deaf won’t be able to make her way through the house and may not be able to hear you.

4. Senile cats meow a lot.

Yes, cats can become senile. This condition, known as feline cognitive dysfunction or cat dementia, can cause a number of problems that will leave your cat feeling scared and disoriented. Her response will be to wail and yowl. A cat with cognitive dysfunction may also become more irritable, sleep more or have altered sleep cycles, lose coordination, and even on occasion become incontinent.

A cat with this condition will sometimes get wild-eyed and just go nuts, almost as if she’s hallucinating. She’ll cry and yowl loudly, may have bizarre mood swings, her skin may ripple as if even the air hurts her, and she might have sudden fits of grooming herself like crazy, even leading to hair loss.

6. Cats meow to signal pain.

Cats rarely show their pain, but sometimes when they’re really hurting, they’ll call out. I saw this once when my cat had a urinary tract infection: she ran back and forth to the litterbox and tried to pee, but nothing came out and the effort was so painful she cried. (Of course, she went right to the vet after I saw this behavior!)

7. Your cat is meowing due to loneliness or boredom.

Single cats who are very closely bonded with their caretakers are particularly susceptible to loneliness or boredom. This kind of crying usually starts after you go to bed and continues until you respond or she gets tired of calling out for attention. If your cat meows because she’s lonely, these tips from the ASPCA may be helpful. Or, consider adopting a second cat.

Tell us: Is your cat meowing all the time? Have you found the cause yet? Tell us about it in the comments!

19 comments on “Cat Meowing Nonstop? 7 Reasons Why Cats Meow”

My 5 year old cat, Bear, has been doing the constant meowing thing about 5 or 6 months now. He has been to the vet twice now. Nothing is physically wrong with him. He also is a bit more aggressive. By that I mean that if he is frightened or threatened even slightly, he is likely to bite or scratch or at least growl and lunge. Essentially, he has become high strung and jumpy. I take it as a good sign that he never does a whole lot of damage, so he must be trying to warn me without hurting me.
He always was a bit more aggressive/feisty than any other cat I’ve had, but it is worse now. I enjoyed his “cattitude’ before but it’s out of hand now. I got him at 16 weeks and he was initially an only cat.
I doubt if it’s any trauma from prior to me having him. Maybe he was a semi-feral kitten? I got him in the shelter with no history given to me except he came to the shelter alone no siblings, no Mama. He was about 1 1/2 yrs old when I introduced 2 year old Bella to the house. She’s much more mellow.
I bought a house and we moved in 11 months ago. Maybe it’s that change but the crying and nervousness didn’t start right away. Maybe it’s the giant owl statue the neighbor has on the fence that I know Bear doesn’t like that keeps him so worked up. He hisses at it when he sees it. Possibly, it’s another predator outside. I haven’t seen a stray cat in my yard, since we first moved in, but there is something burying poop in my yard, could be a stray cat or a bobcat since only cats bury poop with cover up marks around it, not that I can do anything about that except maybe close the blinds at night so they can’t see it. Maybe Bear’s just bored and restless and I need to play with him more.
Yesterday, at the vet , he was so freaked out he attacked me twice and also my other cat. The vet had to wrap him in a towel just to get him into the carrier. This is not a new vet but Bear was never like this at the vet before. He has been going there since he was a kitten. He’s usually curious and explores the room.
The vet prescribed kitty prozac for him. I don’t think I’m going to get that filled, now that I think about it. He isn’t that unmanageable at home, if I stay away when he’s “in a mood”. The biting doesn’t happen that often and it doesn’t upset me too much. If you have cats, you get used to the occasional scratch or bite. They get their tails stepped and even the calmest cat will get ya.
My house is generally calm with only me and my adult son ( who Bear thinks he belongs to). Bear usually gets along with my other cat just fine. They play together and lay and stand close to each other, so I know they are comfortable together. They have three or four litter pans for two cats and yet they use them all interchangeably, another sign they are ok with each other.
My cats have a lot more space in the new house. They have 2 new cat trees in addition to the old one. I got those to give them some vertical space as Jackson Galaxy would suggest. They have two cat fountains, lots and lots of toys and are generally spoiled.
They don’t go outside,except a roll on the patio once or twice a year. They do get to go in the garage, which they seem to think is “outside” to them. They have lots of interesting wildlife to watch in the windows like quail and lizards.
I just can’t figure out why he is so much more crazy now. I’m out of ideas and ok the crying is the part that gets old after a while. I imagine he feels my tension when the crying starts to get old. Plus, I just want him to be happy and content…. and like me. :)

Hello, recently i adopted one cat from someone, he just 1 years old, he eat too much and meowing whole day by very loud. Asking food again & again. But no any worm or diabetes problem. How to solve this? Please help me :-(

My cat won’t let me do paperwork or sew at my machine. He gets right on top of it. He get right on top of my fabric, I’m afraid he will stick his paw under the needle so I stop seeing. Finally he gets bored and leaves .

This rings very true for me, my senior kitty just suddenly started meowing in the hallway like she was lost, it was such a sad noise. We took her to the vet and she had hyperthyroidism, sadly also feline dementia, she was 19 and broke my heart when I had to put her to sleep. She went from being a happy healthy senior cat, to a mere shadow of her self, incontinent, scared, bewildered in the space of a few weeks. She was the furry love of my life, and I still feel like I didn’t do enough.

Please don’t feel that you “didn’t do enough” for your kitty. You gave her a long and happy life filled with love, and no one could possibly do more.
My sympathy on the loss of your dear friend. I have lost dear animal companions-from horses to cats-and understand how heartbreaking it is.
Take comfort in knowing what you did for the animal for all those many years. While the pain never really goes “away” it does change over time, and becomes sweet and bearable.
Best,
Lynda

Boodie,
No matter how much we do for our pet, I think we all feel like we didn’t do enough, after the fact. You did do enough, because you loved your pet. It’s just a part of grieving to feel that way. I feel like I didn’t do enough for every cat I ever had and, for that matter, I feel like I didn’t do enough for human relatives that I’ve lost. I try to just focus on how much I loved them, fur family and human family alike. I try to put that much more love into the fur babies and human family I have left because, in the end, it’s too late to change anything you feel you did less than perfectly and it will drive you crazy thinking about it. If you just love(d) them, then you did enough leave it at that. Hope that helps.

renay, our rescue is the same way. Cinci only meows when she wants to be played with, and either has a shoe-string in her mouth that she is bringing to us to play with her with, or has the shoe-string in front of her, and is waiting for us to come and play with her. She doesn’t ever meow for any other reason, whether she is hungry, or anything.

We don’t know if whoever left her in the rest area she was found in, attempted to do something with her first, and damaged her vocal chords, if it’s a genetic thing, if it’s just part of her personality, or some other reason. e have never had her neck x-rayed, as we don’t currently have the finances for that, as both I and my significant other are on disability, but she doesn’t have problems eating cat food, and she has a much better life now than she would have, had she not been rescued (my significant other’s vet said she would have died within 2-5 days, had she not been rescued), and all of the vets I have since taken her to have all said she’s one of the happiest cats they’ve ever seen.

So if your vet doesn’t have any concerns, you probably should not be concerned, either. I hope this helps allay any fears you may have about your kitty’s “quietness”.

Right on point with the hearing/vision loss and the cat dementia. My kitty Molly lost most of her hearing in the past year, and is starting to lose vision in one eye. She gets “lost” in the dark especially, and it’s really sad to hear her cry for help. I love her dearly, and she is otherwise very sweet and playful. The vet tells me she is extremely healthy for her age besides those symptoms. She eats great, eats people food, uses the box just fine, etc. It’s just that she is 21 years old.

Lennie is a 4- year old mostly grey shorthair. She is such a chatterbox! She meows loudly while carrying her stuffed toys. Or looking out the window. Or just walking around the house. Her weight, appetite and litterbox droppings are normal. The vet said she’s a pefectly healthy young cat. Most interesting is how she will go from what sounds like crying to purring once she is petted. She will roll over on her back and let you rub her belly, which she loves. What she doesn’t like is to be held although she purrs like crazy when she is… I’ve had cats for years and have never experienced this behavior in any of them. Her sibling Bella is a quiet, happy lap cat. Her other housemate, Calli is fairly quiet also. Only Lennie is the spokescat of the group. I’m at a loss to explain this other than she just has a lot to say.

Hi, I would like to know the reason why my cat is always crying in the middle of the night banging on the door and wanting to go out. Everynight I have to pick him and place him far away from the door but within an hour later, he came back to the door and start crying and banging.

I am not sure if it cause of boredom because I had a a 2nd cat to keep him company. But he still wanting to go out from the house every single night.

Please help me solve this . It has been disturbing my sleeps for a year.

Hello, I have a question. My 1 1/2 year old cat that just recently, walks around my house,(very small 1 level floor) and does a long, loud meow, like he does it constantly, and it’s driving me crazy. All the cats I’ve had in my life, the only time I heard this type of meow, is when the cat is about to fight another cat, or ready to mate. Then other times he will just meow like crazy, especially right after we all gone to bed. Does anyone know why he might be doing this? TIA! :)